Competitive Rebounding, Defense & Transition Drills

Great defensive teams know the work isn't over until you've secured the ball. Using on-court demonstrations, Holly Warlick shows you how she gets her SEC championship teams at Tennessee to play tough defense and dominate the boards to spark their transition game. Coach Warlick shares the competitive drills that she uses daily in her Volunteer program to build a rebounding and defensive mentality.

In this incredible presentation, you'll get four competitive rebounding drills responsible for the Volunteer's aggressive rebounding style. Each game-like drill simulates a specific aspect of rebounding, such as sprinting out of help positioning and into a box-out position, or securing the defensive rebound and pushing the ball to half court in less than 2 seconds in order to quickly transition from defense to offense.

These drills put defensive players in a disadvantaged state, which helps them understand that securing a rebound is a team effort. In addition, offensive players develop a mindset to crash the boards. The "War Drill" culminates this package of competitive rebounding drills with 5-on-5 action that works on rebounding and flowing into your transition offense for quick scoring opportunities.

In order to instill a never-give-up defensive attitude, Coach Warlick uses the "Persistence Drill," which creates a defensive mindset of playing all the way through the shot clock. This drill requires a team of three defenders to continually defend against a rotating group of two other teams on a possession-by-possession basis, securing "perfect" stops for a total duration of 30 seconds before being allowed to exit the drill. Any score or offensive rebound on any possession resets the clock. Any stop causes the clock to stop temporarily while the new offensive team rotates on. The clock begins with whatever time is left in the 30-second window. Various defensive themes can be added as a penalty to restart the clock. Players quickly learn that any let down by their teammates could result in restarting the drill.

To help develop your transition offense and defense, Coach Warlick shares her "Transition Drill." This competitive 5-on-5-scrimmage drill forces players to communicate and quickly react on the fly.

Continuing the Volunteer tradition created by her legendary coach, Pat Summitt, Warlick brings a toughness not unlike her Hall of Fame predecessor. These competitive drills will become staples of your practice and will help you develop the fundamentals and attitude you need to excel on converting defensive stops into easy, fast-break scoring opportunities.

Produced at the Spring 2014 WBCA Convention in Nashville (TN).

44 minutes. 2014.